g up!" cried Grace, springing to her feet.
"Look at those banks of clouds."

"And I'm getting cold," added Amy, shivering, and then they suddenly
realized that they still had on their bathing suits.

"I guess we're going crazy--and no wonder," said Grace, as they started
indoors to change their things.

"Has any one any idea what time it is?" asked Mollie. "I'm sure I
haven't."

"It must be after twelve, for I'm beginning to feel hungry," Betty
answered.

"And I'm feeling faint," Amy added. "I shouldn't wonder if a cup of tea
would go awfully well."

"You poor little thing," said Betty, putting an arm about her. "No
wonder you feel faint. We should have given you something to strengthen
you long ago. I don't know what we've been thinking of!"

"It's all my fault," said Mollie contritely, noticing suddenly how white
Amy's face was and how dark were the circles under her eyes. "I let my
own affairs make me forget everything else. Why didn't you say
something, Amy?"

"I didn't think of it myself," Amy answered truthfully, "until Betty
spoke of being hungry. Girls," she paused outside her door to sniff
inquiringly, "do I smell something, or am I dreaming?"

"I'll say you smell something," Grace answered, sniffing hungrily in her
turn. "It's mother getting lunch, of course. I don't know what we ever
would have done without her."

While the girls were dressing the threatened storm was coming nearer,
and toward the end they had to put on the light to see to fix their
hair.

Even had the sun been shining brightly, they would have felt depressed,
what with Amy's accident and the bad news Mollie had received; but with
the wind wailing dolefully and black darkness in the middle of the day,
they felt themselves growing utterly discouraged.

Grace had heard no further news of Will, and the one straw of hope that
she clutched so desperately was that he had not died, or surely her
father would have heard. In this case, no news was good news to a
certain extent.

And as for Betty, brave as she had tried to be since that terrible night
when she had read Allen's name among the missing, even she felt her
courage slipping--slipping, and began to wonder if after all, hoping did
any good.

To-day, as she stood before the mirror, mechanically putting up her hair
and looking through and past her own reflection, her eyes suddenly lost
their preoccupied stare and became focused upon herself. For the first
time in days she was